November 26, 2011

The photos are divided into 4 sections, although you won’t know it by looking at them. I tried to include descriptions of each photo, but they didn’t appear in the blog. So…. first is the beginning of the trip: leaving Jamestown and Jake’s safety lecture on deck. Then comes fishing: Leo, Pete and Ted are shown fighting their fish and proudly showing them off. The third section is entering and navigating the ICW. The final photo with the lighthouse has the fin of a dolphin swimming between us and the lighthouse. And the final photo of all is of the crew at MBYC just before the crew left for home: Jake, Marnie, Dave Riel, Ted Green, Leo Bontiff and Pete Largess.

November 21, 2011, Day 4
33.49 N Latitude, 77.27 W Longitude
584 miles from Jamestown
67 miles to go to Myrtle Beach

Hello Everybody,

Well, last night held no excitement. The complaint at breakfast (which Jake
whipped up for the crew) was that after dancing around with the destroyer
the night before, last night’s watches were just plain dull.

This morning, however, came through with lots of excitement and plenty of
fun. Every man on the boat has caught a tuna this trip! Jake caught his
bonita yesterday and we enjoyed it in fish stew for lunch. Today between
breakfast and lunch we had 5 hits. Dave lost the first (and undoubtedly the
biggest), Leo reeled in an 18# Blackfin tuna, then Pete had his turn with a
15 pounder. Ted was next with a 20-22 pounder, and finally Dave had another
chance and caught a 15 pounder. All Blackfin tuna. Leo was kept busy on
the back deck cleaning fish for at least 2 hours. But as a result every
member of the crew will be taking beautiful tuna home for Thanksgiving. We
had sushi as a mid afternoon snack– “coketail hour”. In addition to
collecting all these fish, the fight was lots of fun. It was really hard
work cranking the fish in and took 5-10 minutes. As each guy worked to keep
the fish on the line and continue cranking the rest of us were all giving
advice, shouting encouragement and generally having a fine time. Every time
we hooked a fish a pod of dolphin came cavorting through the water to the
boat. They swam near and around the hooked tuna, swam under the boat, came
right alongside the transom where the fish was gaffed. They seemed to hover
as the fish was reeled in, almost as if they were watching the process.
Then, once we boated the fish, the dolphin disappeared, only to return with
the next hooked tuna. We wonder if the fishing boats around here have
trained the dolphin to expect something after a fish is boated–perhaps the
fishermen toss them baitfish…..?

Yesterday afternoon and evening we were making painfully slow speed because
of the foul current (3.5 knots for a long period), today we had similar
problems with lack of mileage, but it was primarily because we stopped 5
times to fight and boat tuna! No one is complalining about that. We have
had some foul current today, too; but once we rounded Cape Hatteras we were
able to get closer to shore and away from the strongest current.

The computer tells us that we will be at the Little River Inlet about 0600
tomorrow, which is perfect. We can’t get into the inlet to the Intracoastal
Waterway in the dark, so arriving before dawn would just mean having to
wait. Once in the inlet and into the ICW we have about 5 miles to motor to
the North Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, where we’ll keep avalanche during our
stay in Myrtle Beach visiting Jake’s Mom. (We can’t get any further south
because just a couple hundred yards further along the ICW is a bridge with
68′ clearance. The top of our mast is 80′ above the water.) If all goes as
planned we will have a rental car at 0830 so Ted, Dave and Pete can begin
their drive home to R.I. for Thanksgiving.

This has been a strange trip. I’ve checked the log book and find that we
only sailed for the first 10 hours of the trip. The engine has been running
for the rest of the time (75 hours at this point). We’ve had sails out most
of the time, generally at least the main for whatever boost it would give
us, but often either the staysail or yankee as well. Except for those first
10 hours the wind has been on the nose for the entire trip. Every time
we’ve been able to alter course the wind has shifted with us. The good news
is that for the past two days (except for Dave and Jake’s bout with 25-30
knots) the winds have been generally between 10 and 15.

I’ll write another blog tomorrow to let you know the end of the story, until
then

All the best from the crew of avalanche navigating the shoal water off North
Carolina, looking forward to dawn tomorrow and the adventure of entering the
ICW.

November 20, 2011 Day 3
35.25 N Latitude, 75.10 W Longitude
424 miles from Jamestown
221 miles to go to Myrtle Beach

Hello Everybody,

It turns out that the 0400 to 0600 watch was extra exciting over night.
Jake and Ted were on watch together as the wind built to 25-30 knots (on the
bow, of course). They spent significant time trying out sail options that
would give us a comfortable ride without too much banging in the seas.
After 3 configurations they finally settled on the full main and staysail.
As they were furling and unfurling they located the Gulf Stream,
distinguished by the 73 degree water and their greatly diminished boat
speed. While battling the increased wind and the counter current of the
Gulf Stream, they encountered a US Navy destroyer about 5 miles away. At
first it seemed dead in the water, then it began moving on a course toward
avalanche. When Jake hailed the ship and finally got an answer they
reported that they would pass “port to port”. At this point they were to
starboard of avalanche and starboard to starboard would have been the
simple, straightforward maneuver. When Jake questioned “port to port” and
suggested starboard to starboard they replied that avalanche should hold her
course, that they were turning and then they turned to starboard (toward
avalanche). Next they told avalanche to turn drastically and immediately to
port to avoid a collision (which avalanche did). Ted thought the destroyer
had been within 200 yards before she turned and steamed away into the night.
At that point Dave appeared on deck for his watch and neither Jake nor Ted
could believe how quickly two hours had passed.

The next event of note was the unscheduled MOB drill. We have one almost
every trip. We wear ManOverBoard watches which will sound an alarm if they
are immersed in salt water (as they would be if the wearer fell overboard).
Sometimes salt spray while cleaning a fish, bathing on the back deck while
wearing the watch, taking a wave over the deck full on, or even just
sweating a lot will set the alarm off. This morning Pete and Leo were on
watch while the rest of us slept, when Pete’s alarm went off. The alarms
are in the staterooms and sound just like school fire drills. There is no
way to sleep through them. We were all alert and on deck in seconds before
learning that it was a false alarm. Fortunately Ted was able to get the
alarm turned off quickly.

Otherwise the best news is that the air temperature got up to 79.8 degrees.
The guys on watch still wore long pants and long sleeves, but the hats,
gloves and heavy coats were gone. Off watch the guys were wearing t-shirts
and swim suits. And the answer is, yes, there were bathers on the back
deck. Both Jake and Pete had showers out back. Ted had already showered
below before learning that the back deck was being put to use. Dave and I
are holding out for even warmer weather.

We are just 15 miles off the outer banks of Cape Hatteras and only 11 miles
west of the Gulf Stream. It’s a pretty narrow passage. We are amazed at
the traffic through here. We have constant encounters with ships, a recent
tug and barge at less than a mile, plus a lot of sport fishing boats during
the day. Pete and Dave, on watch now, are constantly watching the radar and
the AIS, plus keeping a lookout on deck. Ted had to call the tug and barge
that passed less than a mile away. We should make our turn at the Cape
Hatteras light about 2200. We’re currently fighting a 3.5 knot current.
Hopefully that will disappear after the turn.

The final bit of news is that we caught a fish. Jake reeled in a small
bonita. We plan to have it in fish stew for lunch tomorrow. Usually we
have teams and a contest between them, but this trip the guys haven’t really
gotten into it. (I think it’s the cold.)

All the best from the crew of avalanche, appreciating the warming weather,
hoping that tonight’s watches won’t be exciting, hoping the foul current
will turn fair, and wishing you all a good night.

November 19, 2011 Day 2
37.28 N Latitude, 73.39 W Longitude
271 miles from Jamestown
365 miles to go to Myrtle Beach

Hello Everybody,

We are currently about 116 east of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.
We’ve had the wind on the nose all day; it has gradually diminished from
about 15 to near 10 knots. As the wind velocity and direction have changed,
the guys on watch have experimented with sail and motor configurations. If
we can get 15-20 knots of wind from the right angle we can sail at good
speed; however we heel 15-20 degrees and life below decks is decidedly
unpleasant. Sliding into the settee to eat is an uphill climb, walking
across the salon can become a sudden slide looking for traction, putting a
bowl of food or a drink down is out of the question because it will either
slide away or tip over immediately. On the other hand, if the sailors motor
straight at our waypoint life below is great, as in flat. It’s just not as
much fun to sit out there on watch. Given the current conditions the
fastest way to Myrtle Beach is to motor directly at it with the mainsail
providing whatever help it can, and that’s what we’re doing. While lunch
was an adventure, heeling at 20 degrees, dinner was downright civilized. I
heated the lasagna in the oven without danger of it’s flying out when I
opened the door. I made a salad and the ingredients all stayed where they
belonged. We could sit at the table without bracing ourselves and with
extra bowls and condiments on the table.

Of vital importance to the mental and physical well-being of the crew is the
temperature, which is climbing. Yesterday the high was 48. Today it was
above 60 from noon on and right now both the air and water temperatures are
61 degrees. Ted and Leo are on watch now, both bundled up in foul weather
pants and winter jackets, but Ted has shed his gloves, while Leo, who hails
from the West Indies, is still wearing his. They have both switched from
stocking caps to ball caps. Jake is playing the optomist, predicting that
it will be warm enough tomorrow to have a shower on the back deck. I’ll
keep you posted on how that plays out. After a day at sea the crew is now
somewhat rested. They still go directly to bed after 6 pm dinner, but
during the day they spend a little time on deck or in the salon before or
after their watches. The first day everyone was either in bed or on watch
on deck (of course that could be because the bunks were the only place to
get warm, and the most comfortable place to be when heeling 15-20 degrees).

After dinner tonight we had 3 ship within 16 miles all at the same time.
Two were 15 and 16 miles off, but Explorer of the Seas, a cruise ship,
passed within 4 miles, lit up like a birthday cake.

For tonight all the best from avalanche, looking for ever warming
temperatures, fair winds, sunshine and more meteor showers tonight.